The effect of 12 weeks of calistenic exercises in the workplace on body composition indices and some blood factors of middle-aged female employees

Abstract

Introduction: Various inactivity affects the life of employees, including their physical health, disrupts the natural process of people's lives, reduces their efficiency and lifespan. One of the solutions to reduce the effects of inactivity is physical activity. In this research, the effect of 12 weeks of calisthenic exercises in the workplace on composite indicators and some blood factors of middle-aged female employees is investigated.
 Materials and Methods: In this research study, 30 people were randomly divided into two experimental groups (15 people) and control group (15 people). 12 weeks of calisthenics exercises were performed by the experimental group. Body composition indices and some blood factors were evaluated before and after the exercises. In order to make intra-group comparisons, the correlation T-test was used and for inter-group comparisons, the independent T-test was used and it was used at a significance level of 0.05 using spss software.
 Results: The findings showed that calisthenics exercises in the work environment significantly improved body composition indices including weight (P=0.011), body mass index (P=0.026), waist circumference (P=0.0 001), hip circumference (P=0.025) and waist to hip ratio (P=0.036) in the experimental group compared to the control group. Also, a significant improvement in blood sugar (P=0.006), systolic blood pressure (P=0.024) and flexibility (P=0.019) was observed in the experimental group compared to the control. However, no significant difference was observed in diastolic blood pressure (P=0.199), HDL (P=0.184) and LDL (P=0.902).
 Conclusion: 12 weeks of calisthenic exercises in the workplace caused significant improvement in body composition indicators, flexibility, blood pressure and blood sugar. But it had no significant effect on HDL and LDL. As a result, these exercises in the workplace can have small effects on the health of female employees and improve their physical health.